My photographer cancelled days before the wedding, then made an unhinged request

“I was shocked,” Amanda said. “I cried. And then I told her that was completely unacceptable.” 

It’s less than a month before Amanda* and Steve* are set to tie the knot. 

The couple had everything organised, from the celebrant and flowers to the table settings, and they patiently waited for the big day to arrive. 

Then, 25 days before Amanda was set to walk down the aisle, she received a “wild” email from the wedding photographer. 

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

Amanda couldn't believe her eyes when she read the message from her photographer. Picture:: iStock

Wedding photographer cancels, refuses to return deposit

In the email, the woman, who was supposed to act as a second photographer to capture candid moments on the big day, explained that there had been a change in plans. 

“She told me she was going to be in ITALY during our wedding and that she would refund my $400 deposit AFTER she got back,” the furious bride-to-be posted online.  

RELATED: ‘Embarrassing’: Bride’s wild request for refund from photographer

Amanda was devastated by the email update, especially as they were less than a month out from their wedding.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I cried. And then I told her that was completely unacceptable.” 

Amanda demanded that the photographer provide the refund immediately, giving her one extra week to return the funds. 

Introducing our new podcast: Mum Club! Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

In response, the wedding photographer apologised for the scheduling conflict, explaining that she “had to ‘cancel my wedding’ to go to Italy to another gig” and wasn’t sure that it was possible to get the money back when Amanda requested it. You know, because she had to go to Italy, duh. 

Then came another blow. 

“She then ASKED if she could make a post on her Instagram about how she was sad she had to cancel our wedding,” Amanda wrote, furious. 

While the bride-to-be was “so so uncomfortable” by the photographer’s request, she “firmly said no”. 

“I was so uncomfortable that she felt empowered enough to basically steal my deposit to fund her Italy trip and then still use me for content?” Amanda wrote, absolutely baffled. “She was the trendy ‘wedding content creator’, and she’s going to Italy instead of coming to my wedding now.” 

Thankfully, Amanda had her deposit returned to her bank account six days later, leaving her 19 days to find a replacement for her big day. Later in the post, Amanda revealed the wedding photographer quoted her $1,000 for her services, which turned out to be just “iPhone photo and videography”. 

“Be careful who you book!” she cautioned the readers. “They can literally just wake up and be a ‘wedding industry professional’ and think it’s a NORMAL thing to cancel for a cooler gig, to hold deposits, to POST ABOUT cancelling on you!” 

RELATED: ‘The bride wanted me to break the law just so she could save a few bucks’

“This is honestly unhinged”

The photographer’s lack of integrity and work ethic bewildered the Facebook community, rushing to the comments to support Amanda.  

“Why would she even want to post about cancelling on a bride for a trip to Italy?” someone asked. “After the wedding? No? You refund now,” said another. 

“This is honestly unhinged,” read a comment. “Imagine demanding $1k for your crappy half-assed iPhone photos.” 

“Content creation is a real thing if your vendor is approaching it right,” a fourth wrote. “Canceling on a client for a cooler gig is absolutely unhinged. But bragging about it on social media? Wtf?”

But others didn’t spare Amanda much sympathy and told her she should have heeded the red flags. 

“Your photographer is your most important vendor. Not the place to skimp on,” a person complained. 

“I mean, if you hire an Instagram content creator for essentially pennies, what do you expect?” another wondered. 

*Names have been changed

Originally published as My photographer cancelled days before the wedding, then made an unhinged request